Oncology (General Cancer)/secondry breast cancer

Questioni had b/c in 2009 had the whole works chemo rads and mastectomy AND REMOVAL OF LYMPH GLAND 5 OUT OF 14 AFFECTED also tamoxifen this was my left breast APRIL 2012 had reconstruction DIEP and lymph glad transplant THEN November i had to have Xray for a bad cough I WAS ALREADY TAKEN ONE COURSE OF ANTI BIOTIC b4 my next tidy up reconstruction surgery the results a shadow on top right lung i was told its either chest infection or neoplasm cancer had blood tests fbc and liver which was clear lol had to have second course of anti biotic anyway have to have another Xray the December but im not feeling all that good still got cough even though finished 2 courses of anti biotic my knees and lower back and middle back ache bad im tired also my lymph gland transplant has failed which will be removed when i have my next op which isn't helping my lymphadem my arm seems to be swelling alot more now

AnswerIt sounds to me like two things need to be investigated -- why your left arm is getting more swollen (most of the time lymphedema gets better if there is nothing else going on) and what the persistent problem is in your right lung. Both might be related to recurrent breast cancer, but other possibilities exist; the problem in the lung and the problem with the arm might be unrelated. The fact that you don't feel well after all this time and two course of antibiotics would make me worry that your doctors are missing something. However from what you've said, I can't tell what is going on. I would certainly think of having a biopsy of the mass process in the lung if it looks like it can be biopsied. The problem with the arm might need some surgery as well. Finally, ask you doctor about a pet scan, if nothing else has helped find out what is going on. If the pet scan shows activity in these and other sites, it might give your doctor some clues as to what to do next. Lab tests do not always show recurrent cancer, so I wouldn't be reassured by them. Hope this helps.